Throwback: Black History Month: Bill Withers

Today is the 25th day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month: 

• You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people 
• Black lives — and Black art matters 
• Black culture is American culture 

As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list. Of course, there are some important Black artists, who were also born during Black History Month. 

So far, I’ve talked about the following, extraordinary artists:

• Big Boi, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on February 1
• Rick James, who was born 77 years ago on February 1
• James Brown, the legendary Soul Brother #1
• The Temptations‘ Dennis Edward, who also was born 82 years ago on February 3
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock ‘n’roll 
• Bobby Brown, who also celebrated his 56th birthday on February 5
• The legendary Bob Marley, who was  was born 80 years ago on February 6
• James Dewit Yancey, best known to the entire world as J. Dilla, one of the most influential and important hip-hop producers and beatmakers who was born 51 years ago on February 7
• Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul 
• Billie Holiday, whose influence on jazz and pop has been towering
• The legendary Roberta Flack, who also celebrated her 88th birthday on February 10 
• Janelle Monáe, who’s guably one of the most dynamic and exciting artists out there today
• The legendary  The Isley Brothers, who over the course of their eight decade career have written and recorded some of the most beloved, covered and sampled songs ever
• Ella Fitzgerald, arguably one of the greatest and most influential voices ever
• The legendary Maceo Parker, who also celebrated his 82nd birthday on February 14
• Janet Jackson, one of the most commercially successful female artists in recorded history  
• Ice T, who also celebrated his 67th birthday on February 16
• The trailblazing Chuck Berry
• Dr. Dre, who also celebrated his 60th birthday on February 18  
• Acclaimed British singer/songwriter, musician and producer Seal, who also celebrates his 62nd birthday on February 19
• The great Smokey Robinson, who celebrated his 85th birthday on February 19
• The legendary John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, one of the pioneers of bebop jazz 
• The uncompromising and defiantly Black Nina Simone, who was born 92 years ago on February 21
• Parliament Funkadelic, led by their equally legendary frontman George Clinton
• Patti LaBelle has arguably one of the most unique and powerhouse vocals ever
• Erykah Badu, one of the most dynamic and mesmerizing artists I’ve ever seen live

Bill Withers, who I think was one of this country’s greatest songwriters. As a pop artist Withers’ rise to fame is highly unusual in contemporary pop standards: He had been in the Navy for close to a decade and spent a significant portion of his life working as an assembler for Ford, IBM and Douglas Aircraft Corporation before he wrote and recorded his first two hit songs — at 33. 

To me what made Withers’ songs so great, is that they came from profound, lived-in experience. And as a result, he could say the things that you’ve always felt but couldn’t exactly put in words. Always thoughtful, yes. Always crafted, yes. And funky as hell yes.